St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals, Blue Jays, productive trade partners

The St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays trades in 2008 and 2011 lead to productive results for the Cardinals. In fact the 2011 trade was key to the Cardinals’ World Series run. What can we expect from the two most recent trades?

A question for 2018: how productive will the trades of Randal Grichuk and Aledmys Diaz be for the St. Louis Cardinals? Looking at the trade history between the two franchises, possibly answers the question.

Let’s first look at the 2008 and 2011 trades.

The 2008 trade of 2018 Cardinal HOF nominee Scott Rolen to the Blue Jays for Troy Glaus, initially worked in the Cardinals favor. Rolen was limited to 115 games due to injuries. Consequently, he had a .262 BA, hit 11 HRs , 50 RBIs, and a WAR of 3.4.

However, Troy Glaus played in 151 games for the Cardinals in 2008. He had a .270 BA and hit 27 HRs, had 99 RBIs and a WAR of 4.4. Surprisingly, Glaus also was the better third baseman in 2008, with a .982 fielding percentage vs Rolen’s of .964.

But in 2009, Glaus played in only 14 games for the Central Division Champs (the St. Louis Cardinals) during an injury-plagued season. As a result, Glaus was not resigned by the Cardinals and he finished his career with the Atlanta Braves in 2010.

Scott Rolen did bounced back in 2009 to play in 128 games for the Blue Jays and the Cincinnati Reds. He also regained his gold glove and middle-of-the-order punch in 2010 to contribute to the Reds Central Division championship. His .285 BA, 20 HR, 83 RBI, and 4.1 WAR returned him to the All Star game.

However, after 2010, Rolen’s career continued to be plagued by injuries and he retired at the conclusion of the 2012 season.

The next trade between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Blue Jays occurred in 2011 and was key in the Cardinals championship season.

On July 27, 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Colby Rasmus, P.J. Walters, Brian Tellet, and Trevor Miller to the Toronto Blue Jays. In return, the Cardinals received SP Edwin Jackson, RP Octavio Dotel, RP Marc Rzepczyski, and OF Corey Patterson. Jackson helped stabilize the starting rotation, while Dotel and Rzepczyski strengthen the bullpen.

Colby Rasmus was the key piece of the trade for the Blue Jays. He played in 408 games for three plus years for Toronto, and had a .234 BA, 66 HR, 194 RBI, with a WAR of 6.6. Rasmus’ best year with the Blue Jays in 2013, which he had a .276 BA, 22 HR, 66 RBI, and had a career high WAR of 4.8.

In reviewing these two trades, it could be argued that the 2008 Scott Rolen trade was only moderately successful. However, the 2011 Colby Rasmus trade, helped produce a world championship and therefore, could be argued, highly successful.

That brings us to the trades of Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk this off season. Who did the Cardinals get and what are their expectations?

Aledmys Diaz was traded for minor league outfield prospect J.B. Woodman in December, 2017.

The 23-year-old Woodman was a second-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2016 draft. He was rated as their 13th-ranked prospect and is currently rated as the 50th-ranked prospect in the Cardinals system. While his power is in question at this point, he is considered to have good defensive skills. Woodman will start the year with the Peoria Chiefs in A-ball.

Randal Grichuk was traded to the Blue Jays in January, 2018 for pitchers Dominic Leone and Conner Greene. Leone is expected to be a key bullpen piece for 2018, and Greene will add depth to the minor league system.

Dominic Leone comes to the Cardinals with a four-year career record of 11-8, 3.48 ERA, 183 strikeouts, in 178 innings pitched. His best year was in 2017, when he pitched in 70 innings with a 2.56 ERA and a 1.052 WHIP.

Conner Greene has been in the Blue Jay organization since 2013 and has been no higher than AA-ball. He has a five-year ERA of 4.04 and a WHIP of 1.44. In AA in 2017, he had a 5-10 record, a 5.29 ERA, and a 1.688 WHIP in 132 innings. Although his fast ball can reach triple digits, he has command issues that need to be addressed.

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My opinion is that the Grichuk trade could bring the best results for the Cardinals with the addition of Dominic Leone to the 2018 bullpen. Leone could be a valuable late inning piece that the front office has been seaching for during this off season. Per Baseball America, “Leone averages 95 mph on his fastball and backs it up with a swing-and-miss 88-90 mph cutter, a power arsenal that has made him effective in late, high leverage situations.”

I believe Randal Grichuk “is what he is,” a good defensive option at all three outfield positions with decent pop in his bat, but will strike out a lot. Grichuk will definitely get a chance to play in Toronto and maybe a different environment will help him.

It’s the Aledmys Diaz trade where I feel the Cardinals could come to regret. Diaz had a remarkable 2016 rookie season that saw him named an All-Star. Nevertheless, Diaz faltered in 2017. He was exiled to AAA Memphis never to return to the major league club. The 2017 banner year for Paul DeJong, sealed Diaz’s fate with the Cardinals.

With the Blue Jays aging, injury- prone infield, Diaz will certainly be given an opportunity to play. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and second baseman Devon Travis are likely to spend significant time on the DL this season, giving Diaz his likely chance.

However, J.B. Woodman is still considered an uncertain prospect. Woodman enters a Cardinal organization that is already well-stocked with talented outfielders.

In conclusion, trades are often subjective and it could be a least a year or more before the impact on the Cardinals and Blue Jays are fully realized.

Next: Mike Maddux shows the limits for Matheny

What’s your opinion? Let us know. Thanks for reading.

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